Marking machine



June 12, 1934. Q sw 1,962,672

MARKING MACHINE Filed May 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l aarlasl. 31 696 C.L. SWEYER MARKING MACHINE Filed May 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 12,1934.

Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES MARKING MACHINE Charles L. Sweyer,Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Louis G. Freeman Company, Cincinnati,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 27, 1932, Serial No. 613,981

10 Claims.

This invention relates to marking machines or tracing machinesparticularly designed for use in shoe factories, for making impressionsupon leather or other materials, for marking with an ink or pigment forornamental purposes, or to place guide lines on the Work for guidance ofsubsequent operations, or for any other purpose desired. Such machinesare particularly adapted for operation upon skins, up-

per blanks, or the like.

Such machines generally have a pad for supplying ink or other suitablemarking material, a marking plate and a work positioning and supportingplate, all of substantially the same area. Whenthe work in hand is of asmall size, for instance womens shoes, a small machine is ordinarilyused, but when the work is of a larger size, or of such a spread ornature as to require a larger support, e. g., strap shoes, as

distinguished from oxfords, a larger machine is used, and these machinesare usually built with a bed or frame several times as wide as the sizeusually required for womens shoes.

In many factories equipped with small machines there is not enough workof large spread,

to justify a larger machine, or there is insufficient room, and suchwork is marked by hand.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention comprises animprovement in the structure of the small style machine which willenable it to handle work heretofore requiring a structure ofconsiderably increased size.

In attempting to utilize the relatively small work supporting plate inthe small machine, it

351 sometimes happens that the parts to be marked extend beyond the areaof the plate and not infrequently the weight of the unsupported workmaterial is great enough to move it out of position on the plate, duringa marking operation.

Again, the work frequently extends to the side and in the path of linkswhich carry the marking head and die from an inking position, to amarking position, and when the marking head is moved toward the work,these supporting links tend to displace the work from alignment on thepositioning plate, with resultant spoilage of the work.

Ordinarily, in marking quarters, the dies and.

supporting plates are so made as to simultane- 5o. ously mark both theleft. and right quarters, and it is on double dies of this kind that thegreatest difficulties of properly laying out and supporting the work,are encountered.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide in amachine of this nature,

a structure which will avoid theforegoing objections by adequatelysupporting work of various sizes, in correct position, and free frominterference of moving parts.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the need forhand-marking or a plurality of different machinesof variable size, inthe provision of an arrangement whereby the small size machineconventionally used for small work such as womens shoes, may be utilizedfor larger work heretofore requiring a larger machine. To this endanovel supporting mechanism for the marking head, and an interchangeableseries of work supporting plates are 7 utilized, whereby to accommodatelarge or small plates without necessitating any. change in size of themachine as a whole.

To the attainment of the above and other objects which will appear asthe description proceeds, reference may be madeto the accompanyingdrawings, in which:--

Fig. 1 represents a perspective of the machine, the Work supportingplate being omitted;

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the machine bed with a small size worksupporting plate in position; and

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the machine with a large size plate in position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings. in which like referencenumerals designate like parts, there Will be seen aframework or bed 1having a pair of platforms 2 and 3 and-amarking head 4 supported formovement between positions in which it engages one or the otherof suchplatforms. The platform 2 is designed to receive the work e. g., ashoeupper blank to be marked by the machine, and'the' platform 3 supports anink pad- 5. A. marking plate or die 9 (shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3)of substantially the same width and area as the pad 5 is detachablysecured to the head 4 and with the head in the position illustrated inFig. 1 such die will be inked by its engagement with the pad 5. Movementof the pad from inking position into engagement with the work on theplatform 2 will effect an impression, or application of ink by themarking die, to the work.

If the marking is to consist of an impression only, the pad 5 may beomitted.

Supporting the head 4 for movement between the platforms, are pairs oflinks 6 and 7, pivotally attached to the head at each side thereof, saidlinks being connected at their remote ends to the frame 1, and disposedin a substantially parallel relation. By this arrangement the head 110 4may be moved from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to a position inengagement with the work on the platform 2. A handle 8 is provided formanipulating the head 4.

Extending from the platform 2 are a series of studs 11, the purposethereof being to locate and retain a work positioning and supportingplate. Fig. 2 illustrates a small size work supporting plate 12, thearea of which is substantially equal to that of the marking head 4, andink pad 5, carrying abutment gauges 13 for accurately aligning the workwith respect to the die and marking head.

Fig. 3 discloses a larger size marking plate 15 which likewise carriesgauging abutments 13.

It will be noted that the links 6 are spaced from the immediate sides ofthe machine and out of the vertical plane of the links 7 by theinterposition of studs 16 and 1'7 between the links and the sides of themarking head 4 and bed 1. The length of these studs is such as toaccommodate the difference in width of the plates 13 and 15, it beingevident that without such studs, the links 6, would be in the same planeas the links '7 and adjacent the sides of the machine, whereupon if theplate 15, or a work piece of equivalent sizewere positioned in themachine the links 6 would strike the plate or work on the downwardmovement of the head 4.

Havingthus described the machine, the use thereof will be readilyapparent. When small work is to be marked, the plate 12 can be used andwork positioned thereon by engagement with abutments 13 may be treatedby first inking the marking die at 5 and then manipulating the head 4 tobring the marking die in position to engage the work. When larger sizesof work are to be treated or small work requiring a large support as onstraps, or the like, the small plate 12 is not used as the work wouldextend beyond its area and tend to slide over the sides thereof, due toits weight. Accordingly, the plate 15, is substituted therefor. In thisinstance, due to the extension of the plate over the base of themachine, the larger spreads can be adequately supported and maintainedin a substantially flat position, and at the same time the links 6 aresufficiently spaced to clear both the work and work supporting plate.

Advantages of this structure include obviation of the diflicultiesattendant on the small machine of the prior art, by inclusion of thestuds 16 and 17, and also permits use of the small machine, which costsconsiderably less than the machines now used for larger types of work,for the larger work. The, work supporting plate 15 may be largeror widerthan the. supporting part of the machine on which it rests so as tosupport the 'work in a horizontal plane, and of course the studs 16 and1'7 can be made and sold at considerably less than the cost of the largemachine. The one small size machine is thus able to do the workheretofore necessitating two different machines, or hand marking.

- Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:-

1. In a marking machine, a marking head, a marking plate carriedthereby, an ink applying member and a supporting member arranged toreceive selectively, work supporting plates of varying widths, meanssupporting said marking head for movement from one of said members tothe other, comprising a pair of links spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to the Width of the marking plate and connectingsaid marking head to the machine, and another pair of links pivotedbelow the plane of a selected work supporting plate and spaced apart adistance sufficient to clear the extreme side edges of such selectedplate, regardless of width, and connecting said marking head to themachine.

2. In a marking machine, a frame, an ink applying station and a workmarking station mounted in spaced relation to each other, a markinghead, means supporting said head for movement from one station to theother, said marking station being arranged to receive selectively,worksupporting plates of widths varying from a dimension approximatingthe width of the marking head to a dimension of substantially greaterwidth, said supporting means including a member pivotally connected tothe frame beneath said plate, and in spaced relation to the framesufficient to clear the edge of the widest selected plate.

3. In a marking machine, a marking member, an ink applying station and awork marking station, means supporting said member for movement from onestation to the other, said marking station being arranged to receiveselectively, work supporting plates of Widths varying from a dimensionapproximating the width of the marking member to a dimension ofsubstantially greater width, said marking member supporting meansincluding a link connected to said marking member and mounted on saidframe in position to swing past the widest of said work supportingmembers.

4. In a marking machine, a markingmember, means arranged to receiveinterchangeablework supporting members ranging from a widthapproximating that of the marking member to a width greater than saidmarking member, means supporting said marking member for movement in themachine comprising pairs of links pivotally connecting said member tothe machine, and means interposed between the links of one pair and theelements to which they are connected efiective to space said links fromsaid elements a distance apart, equal to the width of the widest worksupporting member, the remaining links being spaced apart a distanceequal to the width of the marking member.

5. A marking device comprising two relatively movable members, meansarranged to receive interchangeable work supporting devices and amarking device, ranging from a width approximating that of the markingdevice to a width greater than said marking device, means for attachinga selected one of said marking devices to one of said members, means forattaching said work supporting device to the other of said members, andmeans for supporting a movable one of said members in operativeposition, including an element connected to said movable member andpivoted on said frame in position to swing past the extreme side edge ofthe widest of said work supporting devices.

6. A device of the character described, comprising in combination, abase, a head, a marking element carried by said head, means connected tosaid base and supporting said head for movement to and from markingposition, means arranged to receive interchangeable work supportingplates ranging from a width approximating that of the marking head to agreater width than said marking head, and the Widest of said plateshaving portions projecting beyond a vertical plane at the point ofconnection between said base and said supporting means, and meansproviding clearance between a portion of said supporting means and saidprojecting portions of the widest work supporting plate.

7. In a machine of the type described, a base, a marking station and awork supporting station on said base arranged to receive interchangeablework supporting devices of varying widths, a movable marking head, and aplurality of guiding and carrying members connecting said head to saidbase for movement between said stations, certain of said members beingspaced a greater distance from the sides of the base and head than theothers of said members, whereby to clear any selected device regardlessof width, said latter members having their point of connection with thebase located adjacent and below the work supporting station.

8. In a marking machine, a base, arranged to receive interchangeablework supporting devices of varying widths, a marking head and meansconnecting said head to said base for movement relative thereto,comprising a pair of links pivotally connected to the sides of the headand to the sides of the base, a second pair of links and studs pivotallyconnecting said second pair of links to the sides of the head and baseand efiective to space said second pair of links from the head and base.

9. In a marking machine, a base arranged to receive interchangeable worksupporting devices of varying widths, a marking head and meansconnecting said head to said base for movement relative theretoincluding pairs of links pivotally connected to the sides of the headand the sides of the base, and studs interposed between such sides andthe links of at least one pair thereby to space apart the latter links adistance greater than the distance between links of a remaining palr.

10. In a marking machine, a frame arranged to receive selectively,interchangeable work supporting plates of widths varying from adimension substantially equal to the width of the frame, to a dimensionof substantially greater width respectively, an ink applying membercarried by the frame, a marking plate of a width substantially equal tothat of the inking member, means mounting said plate for movementbetween said member and the selected surface including an elementpivoted to the frame below said surface, and means to provide clearancebetween said element and an adjacent edge of said surface regardless ofthe width of the surface.

CHARLES L. SWEYER.

